Rickshaw reloaded

The three-wheeled auto-rickshaw, or tuk-tuk, has long been delighting Westerners in Asian countries like India and Thailand. Now Berlin’s Öko-hippy visitors (and residents) can get a taste of the Far East without mucking up their carbon footprint by taking a sightseeing ride on one of the world’s first fully electric, marvellously sustainable tuk-tuks.

Started in March by American-German duo Adam Rice and Wolfgang Knörr, Etuktuk currently offers 75-minute tours for up to five people per vehicle along an attraction-rich route through the city. Operating until the end of October, the company offers heated blankets and glasses of Glühwein to warm up sightseers on colder days.

Though the original motorised rickshaw is infamous for being dirty, loud, smelly and environmentally lethal, its electric counterpart is quiet, comfortable and eco-friendly. But don’t take our word for it: as long as you’re a driver’s license holder and willing to partake in a 15 minute ‘driving clinic’, you can get behind the wheel yourself... just beware of taxis who can’t hear you coming!